Liveright Classics – serie

In On Tocqueville, Alan Ryan brilliantly illuminates the observations of the French philosopher who first journeyed to the United States in 1831 and went on to catalogue the unique features of the American social contract. Tocqueville’s prescient analyses of American life remain as relevant today as when they were first written.On Tocqueville features a chronology, biography and excerpts from Tocqueville’s major works.

In On Machiavelli: The Search for Glory, Alan Ryan illuminates the political and philosophical complexities of the often-reviled godfather of realpolitik. Thought by some to be the founder of Italian nationalism, regarded by others to be a reviver of the Roman Republic as a model for the modern Western world, Machiavelli remains a contentious figure. Often outraging popular opinion with his insistence on the amoral nature of power, Machiavelli eschewed the world as it ought to be in favor of a forthright appraisal of the one that is. Perhaps more than any other thinker, Machiavelli has suffered from being taken out of context, and Ryan places him squarely within his own time and the politics of a Renaissance Italy riven by near-constant warfare among rival city-states and the papacy.A well-educated son of Florence, Machiavelli was originally in charge of the Florentine Republic’s militia, but in 1512 the city fell to papal forces led by Cardinal Giovanni de Medici, who thus restored the Medici family to power. Machiavelli was accused of conspiracy, imprisoned, tortured, and eventually exiled from his beloved Florence, and it was during this period that he produced his most famous works. While attempting to ingratiate himself to the Medicis, the historically minded Machiavelli looked to the imperial ambitions and past glories of the Roman Republic as a contrast to the perceived failures of his contemporaries.For Machiavelli, the hunger for power and glory was inextricable from human nature, and any serious attempt to rule must take this into account. In his revolutionary The Prince and Discourses—both excerpted here—Machiavelli created the first truly modern analysis of power.

In On Aristotle: Saving Politics from Philosophy, Alan Ryan examines Plato's most famous student and sharpest critic, whose writing has helped shape over two millennia of Western philosophy, science, and religion. The first thinker to posit that a society should be ruled by laws and not men, Aristotle was born in Stagira, Macedon, in 384 BCE. He would go on to join Plato's Academy and eventually become tutor to Alexander the Great. During his lifetime he would see the revival of Athens following its destruction in the Peloponnesian War, before the ultimate extinction of its radical form of democracy after the Macedonian conquest. Aristotle’s strongly empirical cast of mind was brought to bear on a stunning range of subjects, from rhetoric to physics, from the history of political institutions and mathematics to zoology and botany. The resulting system dominated European thought from the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries.In Nicomachean Ethics and Politics—both excerpted here—Aristotle attempted to delineate the ideal virtues of a both public and private life as well as critique the utopian antipolitics of his former teacher, Plato. For Aristotle, life in a polis was the natural state of man and provided the greatest opportunity for human beings to fulfill their potential. Unlike his scientific theories, which would eventually be displaced by Galileo, Newton, and Darwin, Aristotle’s meticulous thinking on the nature of human affairs, ethics, politics, citizenship, and virtue in a civil society remains as vital today as it was in his own time.

Augustine’s political philosophy is pregnant with arguments that racked not only Christian Europe but also much of the modern world. In On Augustine Alan Ryan carefully lays out the complicated political, philosophical and religious context of Augustine and traces the history of his impact on Western thought both within and beyond the Christian tradition.

Originally written in 1921 for the author’s grandchildren, Hendrik Willem van Loon’s The Story of Mankind has charmed generations with its warmth, simplicity, and wisdom. Rather than the dry recitation of events so common in school textbooks, van Loon’s witty, amiable tone animates the story of human history as a grand and perpetually unfolding adventure. Beginning with the origins of human life and sweeping forward to illuminate all of history, van Loon’s incomparable prose and original illustrations present a lively rendering of the people and events that have shaped the world we live in today. This new version has been brought up to date by best-selling historian Robert Sullivan, who continues van Loon’s personable style, incorporating the most important developments of the early twenty-first century, including the war on terrorism, global warming, and the election of Barack Obama. Engagingly written, delightfully informative, and always entertaining, this is the necessary classic of all ages, for all ages.

In On Marx, Alan Ryan examines Marx’s writing, not within the framework of Lenin or Tolstoy but within its own time, tracing its Hegelian roots and providing a sterling explication and critique of his theories of alienation, class struggle and revolution. This volume provides the clearest, most accessible introduction to Marx’s theories in recent years. On Marx features a chronology, biography and excerpts from Marx’s major works.

In Leviathan, Hobbes created the idea of a “social contract” and set out to explicate a doctrine for the foundation of states and legitimate forms of government. In On Hobbes, Ryan explains how he created the secular conception of the state and politics in one of the first truly modern works of political philosophy. Ryan explicates how current notions of individual rights, sovereignty, representative government and almost all liberal political theory find their foundation in Hobbes.

Originally written in 1921 for the author’s grandchildren, Hendrik Willem van Loon’s The Story of Mankind has charmed generations with its warmth, simplicity and wisdom. Van Loon’s witty, amiable tone animates the story of human history as a grand unfolding adventure. Beginning with the origins of human life and sweeping forward to illuminate all of history, his incomparable prose and original illustrations present a lively rendering of the people and events that have shaped the world we live in today. This new version has been brought up to date by Robert Sullivan, incorporating the most important developments of the early twenty-first century, including the war on terrorism and global warming. Engagingly written, delightfully informative and always entertaining, this is the classic of all ages, for all ages.

In On Aristotle, Alan Ryan examines Plato’s most famous student and sharpest critic. Aristotle was the first thinker to posit that a society should be ruled by laws and not men. His strongly empirical cast of mind was brought to bear on a stunning range of subjects and the resulting system dominated European thought from the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries. Aristotle’s meticulous thinking on the nature of human affairs, ethics, politics, citizenship and virtue in a civil society remains as vital today as it was in his own time. Including key sections from Nicomachean Ethics and Politics, Aristotle’s only surviving works, with a new introduction by Alan Ryan and a chronology of the philosopher’s life and works, On Aristotle contextualises Aristotle’s views of government and the political community within the Ancient World.

For his insistence on the amoral character of successful government, Machiavelli remains a contentious figure. Often reviled as a teacher of evil, Machiavelli’s influence on the modern state is explored in this book.In On Machiavelli, Alan Ryan illuminates the political and philosophical complexities of the godfather of realpolitik. Often outraging popular opinion, Machiavelli eschewed the world as it ought to be in favour of a forthright appraisal of the one that is. Thought by some to be the founder of Italian nationalism, regarded by others to be a reviver of the Roman Republic, Machiavelli has suffered from being taken out of context. Placing him squareley in his own time, this essential, comprehensive and accessible guide to Machiavelli’s life and works includes a new introduction by Ryan.

In On Tocqueville, Alan Ryan brilliantly illuminates the observations of the French philosopher who first journeyed to the United States in 1831 and went on to catalogue the unique features of the American social contract. Tocqueville’s prescient analyses of American life remain as relevant today as when they were first written.On Tocqueville features a chronology, biography and excerpts from Tocqueville’s major works.